--- title: "These AI-Generated, Renaissance-Style Portraits of Rappers Are Incredible" description: "An AI image generator called Stability.ai created an incredible series of Renaissance-style paintings of famous rappers — and they go hard." date: "2022-08-02" modified: "2022-08-02" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-generated-renaissance-portraits-rappers" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "dalle2" - "image generator" - "the digest" --- # These AI-Generated, Renaissance-Style Portraits of Rappers Are Incredible ![An AI image generator called Stability.ai created an incredible series of Renaissance-style paintings of famous rappers — and they go hard.]() *\Image: Dalle2Pictures\* ## DrAIke Tragically, neither Aubrey "Drake" Graham nor Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus Jr ever sat for portraits by Dutch 17th century painter Rembrandt — although some AI-generated "paintings" might have you convinced otherwise. On Sunday, a Twitter account called Dalle2Pictures — which mostly shares images created by [OpenAI's amazing text-to-image generator]() DALL-E 2 — took to the platform to share a series of AI-crafted, Renaissance-style paintings of famous rappers. And honestly? They go hard. From Kayne West [in the style of Raphael]() to Shawn "Jay-Z " Corey Carter [in the style of Leonardo da Vinci](), the AI-generated works are pretty astonishing. Surprisingly, OpenAI's DALL-E 2 wasn't behind them — all credit goes to a competing AI tools company [Stability.ai](), which is slowly rolling out a beta of its Stable Diffusion text-to-image generator to a [limited number of customers](). https://twitter.com/Dalle2Pictures/status/1553712736785387526 ## Louvre Over Stability.ai, which [claims to have created]() an open-source AI product that's "by the people, for the people," was founded by entrepreneur [Emad Mostaque](), who also once served as an executive for a [billionaire's hedge fund](). A quick scroll through the Twitter [hashtag #StableDiffusion]() reveals a number of other AI-generated artworks, including this absolutely horrifying portrait of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg [in the style of Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring."]() The portraits are seriously impressive, and can really give DALL-E 2 a run for its money. AI generators are clearly [having a moment]() right now. And Renaissance portraits of rappers aside, there do seem to be [some practical consumer uses]() for the technology. We can't wait to see what kind of wild concoctions they come up with next. **More on AI art:** [*Someone Asked an Ai to Show the "Last Selfie Ever Taken" And Um*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()